Southwest Waterfront
Encyclopedia
Southwest Waterfront is a residential neighborhood in Southwest
Washington, D.C.
. Southwest is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is Bellevue
, which, being east of the Anacostia River
, is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in Southeast
. For that reason many residents of Southwest Waterfront will simply refer to themselves as living in "Southwest."
Southwest Waterfront is bounded by Interstate 395
to the north, Washington Channel
to the west, the Anacostia River
to the south, and South Capitol Street
to the east. Politically, Southwest Waterfront lies in Ward 6.
block of townhouses, built in 1793, and Fort McNair
, which was established in 1791 as "the U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point."
After the Civil War
, the Southwest Waterfront became a neighborhood for the poorer classes of Washingtonians. The neighborhood was divided in half by Fourth Street SW, then known as 4 Street; Scottish, Irish, German, and eastern European immigrants lived west of 4 Street, while freed blacks lived to the east. Each half was centered on religious establishments: St. Dominic's Catholic Church and Temple Beth Israel on the west, and Friendship Baptist Church
on the east. (Also, each half of the neighborhood was the childhood residence of a future American musical star — Al Jolson
lived on 4 Street for a time, and Marvin Gaye
was born in a tenement on First Street.)
The Waterfront developed into a quite contradictory area: it had a thriving commercial district with grocery stores, shops, a movie theater, as well as a few large and elaborate houses (mostly owned by wealthy blacks). However, most of the neighborhood was a very poor shantytown of tenements, shacks, and even tents. These places, some of them in the shadow of the Capitol
, were frequent subjects of photographs that were published with captions like, "The Washington that tourists never see."
In the 1950s, city planners working with the Congress
decided that the entire Southwest quadrant should undergo significant urban renewal
— in this case, meaning that the city would acquire nearly all land south of the mall (except Bolling Air Force Base and Fort McNair), either through voluntary purchases or through the use of eminent domain; evict virtually all of its residents and businesses; destroy many of its streets, and all of its buildings and landscapes; and start again from scratch.
There was some opposition to the plan, notably from the Southwest Civic Association, because of its emphasis on building luxury housing rather than supplying low and moderate income dwellings to replace the homes slated for demolition. John Ihlder
, the director of the Alley Dwelling Authority, also spoke out about the plan's failure to provide enough affordable and public housing. However, the redevelopment plans, which had been crafted by architects Louis Justement and Chloethiel Woodward Smith and which included modernist buildings, ample green spaces, and plenty of parking, were popular among many city residents and officials, and their appeal eventually won out. Only a few buildings were left intact, notably the Maine Avenue Fish Market
, the Wheat Row townhouses, the Thomas Law House
, and the St. Dominic's and Friendship churches. The Southeast/Southwest Freeway section of Interstate 395 was constructed where F Street, SW, had once been, separating the quadrant's business district from the residential Waterfront neighborhood.
The heart of the urban renewal of the Southwest Waterfront was Waterside Mall, a small shopping center/office complex mostly occupied by a Safeway
grocery store and satellite offices for the United States Environmental Protection Agency
. The Arena Stage was built a block west of the Mall, and a number of hotels and restaurants were built on the riverfront to attract tourists. Southeastern University
, a very small college that had been chartered in 1937, also established itself as an important institution in the area.
The residential aspect of the project began with a large apartment complex and park called Potomac Place, located on 4th Street between G and I Streets. When Nikita Khrushchev
visited Washington in 1959, he pointed out to President Dwight D. Eisenhower
the extremely poor dwellings that stood on the way from Bolling Air Force Base
(where Khruschev had arrived in the city) to the downtown area; Eisenhower, in response, ordered their driver to pass by Potomac Place in order to show the Soviet Premier that the nation's capital was working to assist its poorer citizens.
in Washington, D.C. River Park features townhouses and a highrise building a unique modern glass and aluminum design by the award-winning architect Charles Goodman. Tiber Island, which was designed by noted architects Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon and built in 1965 in a pinwheel shape with a large courtyard and town houses in the quadrants, won the American Institute of Architects award for Multi-Family Residential design in 1966. Carrollsburg was completed in 1967 and developed as a companion piece to Tiber Island by the same architects.
In 1972, the Titanic Memorial was moved to the Washington Channel
, near Fort McNair in Southwest Waterfront.
The Washington Metro
built the Waterfront Metro station on its Green Line
and opened it in 1991.
Starting around 2003, the Southwest Waterfront began gentrifying. A number of the neighborhood's apartment buildings began extensive renovations and condominium
conversions. Residential and commercial developers began to take a more serious interest in Southwest with the announcement in 2004 that the city would build the new Washington Nationals
baseball stadium just across South Capitol Street from Southwest. The Southwest Waterfront has now been earmarked as the site of the next wave of DC redevelopment. Large development projects currently underway or in the planning stage include Waterfront Station, a mixed retail-commercial-residential development at Fourth & M Streets SW; the expansion and redesign of Arena Stage
; and the radical redesign and overhaul of the waterfront itself, to include residences, office space, hotels, and retail establishments.
Current residents include House Representative
John Conyers
and former Police Chief Charles Ramsey
. Hubert Humphrey
lived there while serving as U.S. Vice President, and Thurgood Marshall
, Lewis Powell, and David Souter
all had homes in Southwest during their tenures on the United States Supreme Court.
Washington, D.C. (southwest)
Southwest is the southwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of the National Mall and west of South Capitol Street. It is the smallest quadrant of the city. Southwest is small enough that it is frequently referred to as a neighborhood in and of...
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Southwest is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is Bellevue
Bellevue, Washington, D.C.
Bellevue is a residential neighborhood located in Southwest Washington, D.C, east of Bolling Air Force Base. It is bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SW to the west and northwest, Joliet Street SW to the south, and First Street and South Capitol Street on the east. There are many garden...
, which, being east of the Anacostia River
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
, is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in Southeast
Washington, D.C. (southeast)
Southeast is the southeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located south of East Capitol Street and east of South Capitol Street. It includes the Capitol Hill and Anacostia neighborhoods, the Navy Yard, the Marine Barracks, the Anacostia River waterfront,...
. For that reason many residents of Southwest Waterfront will simply refer to themselves as living in "Southwest."
Southwest Waterfront is bounded by Interstate 395
Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)
Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...
to the north, Washington Channel
Washington Channel
The Washington Channel is a channel that parallels the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is located between the Southwest Waterfront on the east side and East Potomac Park on the west side. The channel is two miles long, receives outflow from the Tidal Basin at its north end, and empties into...
to the west, the Anacostia River
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
to the south, and South Capitol Street
South Capitol Street
South Capitol Street is a major street dividing the southeast and southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C. It runs south from the United States Capitol to the Washington-Maryland line...
to the east. Politically, Southwest Waterfront lies in Ward 6.
History
Southwest Waterfront is part of Pierre L'Enfant's original city plans and includes some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the Wheat RowWheat Row
Wheat Row is a row of four historic townhouses located at 1315, 1317, 1319, and 1321 4th Street, Southwest, Washington, D.C., in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood.-History:Wheat Row was constructed in 1794, for real estate developer James Greenleaf....
block of townhouses, built in 1793, and Fort McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of a peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To its west is the Washington Channel, while the Anacostia River is on its south side...
, which was established in 1791 as "the U.S. Arsenal at Greenleaf Point."
After the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Southwest Waterfront became a neighborhood for the poorer classes of Washingtonians. The neighborhood was divided in half by Fourth Street SW, then known as 4 Street; Scottish, Irish, German, and eastern European immigrants lived west of 4 Street, while freed blacks lived to the east. Each half was centered on religious establishments: St. Dominic's Catholic Church and Temple Beth Israel on the west, and Friendship Baptist Church
Friendship Baptist Church
Friendship Baptist Church is a former church in Washington, D.C., also known as Virginia Avenue Baptist Church, Miracle Temple of Faith and the Redeemed Temple of Jesus Christ. It is a Romanesque church, designed by James A. Boyce, and was built in 1886.It was listed on the National Register of...
on the east. (Also, each half of the neighborhood was the childhood residence of a future American musical star — Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
lived on 4 Street for a time, and Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
was born in a tenement on First Street.)
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, were frequent subjects of photographs that were published with captions like, "The Washington that tourists never see."
In the 1950s, city planners working with the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
decided that the entire Southwest quadrant should undergo significant urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
— in this case, meaning that the city would acquire nearly all land south of the mall (except Bolling Air Force Base and Fort McNair), either through voluntary purchases or through the use of eminent domain; evict virtually all of its residents and businesses; destroy many of its streets, and all of its buildings and landscapes; and start again from scratch.
John Ihlder
John Ihlder was the executive officer of the Washington D.C. Alley Dwelling Authority and its successor agency the National Capital Housing Authority...
, the director of the Alley Dwelling Authority, also spoke out about the plan's failure to provide enough affordable and public housing. However, the redevelopment plans, which had been crafted by architects Louis Justement and Chloethiel Woodward Smith and which included modernist buildings, ample green spaces, and plenty of parking, were popular among many city residents and officials, and their appeal eventually won out. Only a few buildings were left intact, notably the Maine Avenue Fish Market
Maine Avenue Fish Market
The Maine Avenue Fish Market of Washington, D.C., also known as "the Wharf" or "the Fish Wharf", is one of the few surviving open air seafood markets on the east coast. In operation since 1805, it is the oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States, 17 years older than New York...
, the Wheat Row townhouses, the Thomas Law House
Thomas Law House
The Thomas Law House was built in 1796 near present day 6th and N Streets, Southwest in Washington, D.C. Originally inhabited by Thomas Law and Elizabeth Parke Custis, oldest granddaughter of Martha Washington....
, and the St. Dominic's and Friendship churches. The Southeast/Southwest Freeway section of Interstate 395 was constructed where F Street, SW, had once been, separating the quadrant's business district from the residential Waterfront neighborhood.
The heart of the urban renewal of the Southwest Waterfront was Waterside Mall, a small shopping center/office complex mostly occupied by a Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
grocery store and satellite offices for the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
. The Arena Stage was built a block west of the Mall, and a number of hotels and restaurants were built on the riverfront to attract tourists. Southeastern University
Southeastern University
Located in southwestern Washington, D.C., in the United States, Southeastern University was a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher education that lost its accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on August 31, 2009. The Commission reported...
, a very small college that had been chartered in 1937, also established itself as an important institution in the area.
The residential aspect of the project began with a large apartment complex and park called Potomac Place, located on 4th Street between G and I Streets. When Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
visited Washington in 1959, he pointed out to President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
the extremely poor dwellings that stood on the way from Bolling Air Force Base
Bolling Air Force Base
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is a military installation, located in Southeast Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission...
(where Khruschev had arrived in the city) to the downtown area; Eisenhower, in response, ordered their driver to pass by Potomac Place in order to show the Soviet Premier that the nation's capital was working to assist its poorer citizens.
Present day
Due to its history of urban redevelopment, most of the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood is composed of large cooperatives or condominiums, often containing both townhouses and apartment buildings, and most are rare examples of Modern ArchitectureModern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
in Washington, D.C. River Park features townhouses and a highrise building a unique modern glass and aluminum design by the award-winning architect Charles Goodman. Tiber Island, which was designed by noted architects Keyes, Lethbridge and Condon and built in 1965 in a pinwheel shape with a large courtyard and town houses in the quadrants, won the American Institute of Architects award for Multi-Family Residential design in 1966. Carrollsburg was completed in 1967 and developed as a companion piece to Tiber Island by the same architects.
Washington Channel
The Washington Channel is a channel that parallels the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is located between the Southwest Waterfront on the east side and East Potomac Park on the west side. The channel is two miles long, receives outflow from the Tidal Basin at its north end, and empties into...
, near Fort McNair in Southwest Waterfront.
The Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
built the Waterfront Metro station on its Green Line
Green Line (Washington Metro)
The Green Line is one of five heavy rail subway lines that constitute the Washington Metro rapid transit system in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The Green Line consists of 21 stations, with termini at Branch Avenue and at Greenbelt. The Green Line runs through Prince George's County,...
and opened it in 1991.
Starting around 2003, the Southwest Waterfront began gentrifying. A number of the neighborhood's apartment buildings began extensive renovations and condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
conversions. Residential and commercial developers began to take a more serious interest in Southwest with the announcement in 2004 that the city would build the new Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
baseball stadium just across South Capitol Street from Southwest. The Southwest Waterfront has now been earmarked as the site of the next wave of DC redevelopment. Large development projects currently underway or in the planning stage include Waterfront Station, a mixed retail-commercial-residential development at Fourth & M Streets SW; the expansion and redesign of Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
; and the radical redesign and overhaul of the waterfront itself, to include residences, office space, hotels, and retail establishments.
Current residents include House Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
and former Police Chief Charles Ramsey
Charles Ramsey
Charles Ramsey may refer to:* Charles H. Ramsey, police commissioner*Charles Ramsey , head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team from 2005–2011*Charles Frederic Ramsey, record producer...
. Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
lived there while serving as U.S. Vice President, and Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
, Lewis Powell, and David Souter
David Souter
David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...
all had homes in Southwest during their tenures on the United States Supreme Court.